University of Colorado’s Center for Global Health Uses HMS Curriculum to Train TBAs in Guatemala

July 21, 2014

University of Colorado’s Center for Global Health Uses HMS Curriculum to Train TBAs in Guatemala.

The Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Global Health, in collaboration with the Fundación Para la Salud Integral CU, has implemented and is supporting a project to improve maternal and child health in the Trifinio region of southwestern Guatemala. Trifinio’s rural, underserved Ladino population has a maternal mortality rate that is estimated to be 130/100,000 live births, one of the highest in Latin America—55% of births occur in the home with traditional birth attendants. The project’s maternal health initiatives include the development and maintenance of a birth center and a maternal-child health registry, and ongoing training of community health workers and traditional birth attendants. The project is developing site-specific curricula in emergency obstetric care for low-literacy traditional birth attendants using components of the Helping Mothers Survive curriculum developed by Jhpiego to reduce maternal deaths. The trainings use the MamaNatalie birthing simulator to create realistic training scenarios in order to educate traditional birth attendants on safe birth, postpartum hemorrhage and shoulder dystocia, which occurs when a baby’s shoulder get stuck during delivery. Plans are underway to build the capacity of the regional referral hospital using the Helping Mothers Survive program in its entirety.